A team in Cowbridge is seeking to increase general recycling awareness as it continues to collect waste that currently cannot be recycled by the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

The group is keen to let residents know about the items that are recyclable through the TerraCycle scheme, such as Pringles® tubes, disposable gloves, pens, and foil balloons.

Disposable contact lens cases, medicine blister packs, plastic toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes as well as sweet wrappers and many other items are also able to be recycled via the drop off points that have been set up in the town.

Supermarkets such as Co-op and Tesco Extra are also increasing the range of soft plastic they will accept back in their stores for recycling, and the Cowbridge group is keen to push awareness to residents.

A volunteer who lives in Cowbridge set up the Cowbridge Recycles group during the height of lockdown after becoming aware of the amount of rubbish her family was throwing away.

"I was in lockdown, stuck in the house and I found myself wondering about all the packaging I was putting in the bin," said the Cowbridge TerraCycle volunteer. "I found the TerraCycle logo on the back of certain packaging and I had never heard of it before.

"From doing research online about local groups that collect TerraCycle waste, I contacted a lady called Sara Lewis from Caerphilly. For more than ten years, Sara has coordinated the collection of this type of consumer waste from locations around Caerphilly, Cardiff, Barry and Cowbridge, even directly to the boot of her car. Sara was coming to Cowbridge once a month, and residents would hand over their TerraCycle recycling to her."

The volunteer added: "After speaking with various local business owners and the Vale of Glamorgan Council, a lucky conversation with Mike Robins who owns Cowbridge Farm Shop resulted in our team being offered permanent bins in the barns next door, which now means residents can drop off their recycling seven days a week.

"We have around 22 bins for all of the different categories of waste and people can come to do their shopping and drop off their TerraCycle recycling at the same time – it's only a short drive from Cowbridge town centre and the bins are clearly labelled."

The scheme in Cowbridge currently has six volunteers – a mix of mums with young families and local retired people. The team are trying to promote the initiative as much as possible through social media. "Since we opened a permanent home at Cowbridge Farm Shop in January, interest in the scheme is growing quite quickly," said the volunteer.

"We are very grateful to our Facebook followers, currently at around 330 people and our recently launched Instagram page has attracted more than 200 followers in almost four weeks."

With the recycling scheme being sponsored by household brands, the group earns points which can turn into cash every six months which is donated to local charities.

Awesome Wales on Cowbridge High Street and its site in Barry also operate an identical scheme and there is another drop-off point operating at St Illtyd Primary School in Llantwit Major.

Click here to find out more about Cowbridge Recycles through their Facebook page and Instagram profile.